Karl andreas zschorner



lhvrrnn firarns PATENT Urrrcn,

KARL ANDREAS ZSOHGRNER, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING FIBROUS MATERIAL FROM PEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 610,957, dated September 20, 1898.

A li ation flied July 23, 1897. Serial No. 645,688. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KARL ANDREAS ZSCHGR- NER, a subject of the King of Hungary, residing at Vienna, in the Province of Lower Austria, in the Empire of Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Production of a Fibrous Material from Peat Appropriate for Paper-Making; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the separation of the fibrous constituents of peat from its humus for the purpose of obtaining a fibrous product adapted to be spun or to the manufacture of paper.

Many attempts have before my invention been made to separate the fiber of peat from its humus with a view to the utilization of such fiber in the manufacture of paper. In all these attempts the product, instead of being composed of intact fibers of unimpaired strength, is a disintegrated pulp, composed chiefly of cellulose, unfit for the manufacture of good grades of paper and certainly not fit to be spun. The failure of these attempts led me to investigate the subject more closely, and I became convinced that the nature of peat and its fiber, which diifers so essentially from other fibrous materials, had never received that consideration which it should have received in order that a rational process of separation might be established and a fiber obtained that is unimpaired in strength for the purposes stated.

The processes resorted to before my invention consist, essentially, in boiling the peat in a more or less concentrated solution of a caustic-alkali lye under considerable pressure for a longer or shorter period. In conjunction with this other chemical agents, as acids, ferments, fat-solvents, and the like, have been used to elimitate the humus from the fibers, processes which involve considerable expense in fuel, cost of reagents, &c., as well as time, while the object aimed at by me-namely, the production of an unimpaired long-stapled fiber is impossible, In-

vestigation convinced me that the factors upon which a satisfactory product is dependent, in view of the nature or composition of peat and their influence upon the humus and fiber, had not been sufficiently considered to determine upon a process of separation that would yield uniformly good results, and to establish the relations of these factors and their influence upon the constituents of peat I made a series of experiments extending over a considerable period of time under the most varied relations or conditions of these factors. These experiments have clearly shown that when peat is treated with a caustic-alkali solution, even a very weak one, in the presence of heat under pressure higher than atmospheric pressure disintegration in variably follows -that is to say, a very short stapled cellulose-like product is obtained-and this led me to experiment without heat with causticalkali solutions of various degrees of concen tration and under various pressures, and I finally succeeded in obtaining the results aimed at.

Broadly speaking, the process consists, essentially, in rendering soluble and in dissolving the humus constituents of peat Without affecting the fibers thereof, and this I am enabled to accomplish by reacting upon thepreviously-cleansed peat with a very weak solution of a caustic alkali of normal temperature under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure for from ten to fourteen hours, the product being a long-stapled fiber of unimpaired strength. There are, however, certain constituents in the humus of peat which I found are not readily rendered soluble by the action thereon of a caustic alkali, but are readily rendered soluble by an oxidizing agent, and after experimenting with various oxidizing agents and knowing that certain bleaching agents possess this property I experimented therewith and obtained the most satisfactory results in that the product obtained was not only a long-stapled pure fiber, but also a bleached one, thus dispensing with a special treatment of the fiber with an oxidizing agent.

In carrying out [my/invention I proceed as follows: The previously-washed peat is treated with a caustic-alkali solution-as, for instance, a solution of caustic sodaof a strength that should not be much greater than, but preferably of two per cent, at or below normal temperature or at a temperature of from 4 to 25 centigrade and under a pressure of at least one atmosphere-preferably, however, under a higher pressurefor from about ten to fourteen hours. Under these conditions the lye is caused to rapidly penetrate the peat, diffusion taking place to some extent, so that the greater port-ion of the soluble humus constituents are separated from and without dividing or otherwise reducing or disintegrating the fiber. If necessary, this operation may be repeated any required number of times, in which case the lyes used in the several operations should, however, be of successively-reduced strength, so that the fiber may not be attacked and injured and reduced to a cellulose-like condition or pulp. In the first operation a darkbrown solution is obtained, which if the operation is repeated with lyes of gradually-reduced strength becomes clearer and clearer. The fibrous material thus purified is then thoroughly washed in water and reacted upon by an agent that will act as oxidant in an alkaline lye to render soluble those humus constituents that are insoluble in such weak lyes and convert them into bodies soluble in said lye without injury to the fiber. To this end I preferably employ solutions of suitable agents which not only act as oxidants, but also as bleaching agents, whereby a separate treatment of the fiber for the purpose of oxidizin g the said constituents is dispensed with. To this end I employ a solution of a hypochloriteas, for instance, of calcium or sodium hypochlorite of 10W concentration-not exceeding 2 Baum, the operation of oxidation and bleaching being carried out as in the preceding stepnamely, at or below normal temperature and under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure. After this operation the fibrous material is preferably once more subjected to the action of a caustic-alkali lye of normal or below normal temperature and of a strength not exceeding one per cent. and under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, whereby the humus and other constituents rendered soluble are dissolved out, the lye drawn off being quite clear.

From what has been said it will readily be seen that the process is an inexpensive one as compared with the processes in use before my invention, owing to the low concentration of the lyes and the dispensing with fuel.

The whiteness or brightness of the fiber obtained by the process depends,of course,upon the first step, in that the depth of color of the fiber decreases in accordance with the number of times said step is repeated,within certain limits, of course.

The product can be used, per se, in the manufacture of paper or in admixture with other paper stuifs.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The process of producing paper-stock from peat, which consists in, reacting upon the same with a solution of a caustic alkali of normal or below normal temperature and of a strength not exceeding twoper cent. under a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure for from about ten to fourteen hours, removing the lye from the fibrous material and reacting upon the latter with a solution of a hypochlorite of an alkali of normal or below normal temperature and of a strength not exceeding 2 Baum under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, for the purpose set forth.

2. The process of producing paper-stock from peat, which consists in reacting upon the same with a solution of a caustic alkali of normal or below normal temperature and of a strength not exceeding two per cent, under a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, repeating the operation with successively weaker lyes, then removing the lye' from the fibrous material and reacting upon the same with a solution of a hypochlorite of an alkali of normal temperature and of a strength not exceeding 2 Baum under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

KARL ANDREAS ZSCl-IORNER. lVitnesses:

HARRY BELMONT, KARL IIllTTER. 

